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Senator Farley Cosponsors Medicaid Takeover Bill

State Senator Hugh T. Farley (R, C, I - Schenectady) announced today that he has signed on as a cosponsor to legislation that would phase-out the burden of Medicaid costs on real property taxpayers.

Bill S.5889-B would provide for an immediate freeze of local contributions to the cost of Medicaid. It would then phase-out the local contribution over an 8-year period.

"Real relief is needed for struggling families and businesses. This phase-out is a reasonable and realistic way for the State to fully fund the Medicaid program. It will remove the cost of the program from the local real property tax," Senator Farley said.

Currently, over half the states require localities to pay a share of the cost of Medicaid. However, the cost of the Medicaid program is far more expensive in New York than in other states.

"We have taken many steps over the years to try to reduce the burden on localities and on property taxpayers, such as assuming the full cost of the Family Health Plus program and capping the annual Medicaid increases paid by the counties. However, the cost of this program continues to grow, placing an unsustainable burden on property taxpayers and squeezing county budgets, especially in light of the new property tax cap," Senator Farley said.

"The explosive growth in Medicaid spending has placed a significant burden on both State government and local governments," said Senator Farley. "We need to further reform the system, including aggressively cracking down on fraud and so-called Medicaid mills. The taxpayers need to be protected from these abuses."